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Twenty-two franchises moved spots from last week's rankings, illustrating the in-flux nature of the NFL and the reality that there are no great teams, just a few good, many mediocre and couple of Jags and Chiefs in the league.

Of note, however, is the fact that no one in the NFC North has a losing record, while every team in the NFC East fell in Week 9. Looks like that overrated division will have only one postseason representative for the third year in a row.

While the NFC East is overrated, the CFL evidently is underrated ...

@harrison_nflis it possible to have the toronto argonauts ranked 32 and the chiefs relegated in this weeks power ranking? #NFL#CFL

The
Atlanta Falcons keep winning because
Mike Smith's team just doesn't suffer the mental breakdowns that afflict other clubs. The
Dallas Cowboys gave the
Falcons all they could handle
Sunday night, but the key to the game was that Atlanta didn't give Dallas any freebies.
Roddy White is an absolute beast at home, too -- darn near uncoverable. His biggest contribution, besides putting up another 100-yard game, was locking up
Morris Claiborne to prohibit an interception late in the fourth. That single play might have saved the game. What a player.

RANK

2

7-1TEXANS

Another week, another win, and yet another game of holding the ball for more than 34 minutes. That said, the
Houston Texans have a big challenge looming in Chicago. The key for Houston will be sticking with the run game against the
Bears' front four, and not having any giveaways on offense, as Chicago absolutely thrives off turnovers (85 points off takeaways). The good news: Houston is excellent at both sticking with the ground game and protecting the football.

RANK

3

7-1BEARS

Weren't there a lot of people saying the
Chicago Bears were fluky, and that the
Tennessee Titans would upset them? Thought so.
Bears defense: seven touchdowns in the past six games.

The
Baltimore Ravens sit at 6-2 after
holding off the pesky Cleveland Browns on the road. Head coach
John Harbaugh had nothing but positive remarks about his opponent, praising what's being built in Cleveland. Class. You can't teach it. Another thing that can't be taught: resilience. Baltimore is on pace for a 12-4 mark, despite some huge injuries (
Terrell Suggs, Lardarius Webb) and offseason losses like
Jarret Johnson, who now resides in San Diego. Give Harbaugh his props.

Manning-to-Decker is becoming one of the most lethal combos in pro football. Some of it is
Eric Decker's ability to catch the ball in traffic, as well as his knack to be where he is supposed to be -- perhaps the most important trait for a receiver in a
Peyton Manning-led offense. Of course, the other aspect to take into account is the attention
Demaryius Thomas demands. As long as the
Denver Broncos get viable defensive play, they'll be a huge player in the AFC. While we're at it, take a gander at
Denver's back stretch: eight opponents,
one of which has a winning record.

RANK

10

5-3STEELERS

Everything about
the Pittsburgh Steelers' 24-20 win screamed "TEAM." Some writer not only called the win,
but the exact score. How about that guy? What made this particular victory so special was the fact the
Steelers did it in an emotionally charged stadium in front of an emotionally charged crowd. Despite being down 10 in the second half, with pass protection clearly breaking down, Pittsburgh's offense put together a couple of quality possessions. The running game was phenomenal, particularly
Isaac Redman (147 yards). Couple that with incredibly clutch play from the secondary, and the
Steelers now sit at 5-3 on the crest of a three-game win streak.

Hey, don't look now, but this
Detroit Lions club that everyone wrote off is now 4-4 and making its move. The NFC North doesn't have a losing team. Give some credit for the
Lions' recent success to an unusual suspect: the ground game. Detroit ran for 149 yards and four touchdowns
in Jacksonville. Next up:
the Vikings, who just allowed 195 rushing yards to the
Seahawks.

Whatever
Andrew Luck does differently at home, it sure is working. The No. 1 overall pick resumed his brilliant play at Lucas Oil Stadium with
a rookie record 433 yards passing against Miami. Luck has put up over 300 yards per game and boasts an 8-to-3 TD-INT ratio over five contests in Indy. The interesting part is how well he's been able to spread it around to three guys who many analysts didn't think would give this team much production:
Reggie Wayne (age, no Peyton),
Donnie Avery (injury-ravaged career, three teams in five years) and
T.Y. Hilton (who?). Impressive stuff, and kudos to offensive coordinator/interim head coach
Bruce Arians.

RANK

15

5-4VIKINGS

3

The
Minnesota Vikings have been making opposing quarterbacks look like Hall of Famers lately. Over the last two weeks, opponents have thrown six touchdown passes with no picks and a 115.5 passer rating. Compounding the problem is the absence of a pass rush. After totaling 22 sacks over the first seven games, the
Vikings have compiled two sacks in the last two. Not good.

RANK

16

4-4DOLPHINS

3

Ryan Tannehill felt the pressure late
in Sunday's loss in Indy, but overall you have to be impressed with the rookie out of Texas A&M. He might not exude confidence on the field all the time, and struggled on the
Miami Dolphins' do-or-die possession near the end of the game, but the NFL isn't too big for him. Tannehill keeps his composure, and frankly, hasn't received enough credit because of all the praise spray-painted on
Robert Griffin III and
Andrew Luck. Speaking of the latter, how Miami's defensive backs don't make a play on
the go-ahead bomb to T.Y. Hilton is anyone's guess. Luck threw that ball up for grabs.

Philip Rivers looked awfully good
Thursday night, save one poor decision
in throwing a bad pick in the end zone. Once again, Rivers aimed the ball and looked to do too much. If he can just coach himself out of that, the
San Diego Chargers will be right in the thick of the AFC West race. The defense played well in Cleveland and held down the
Chiefs with little difficulty. While that competition might not be stiff, defensive coordinator John Pagano leads a unit that can at least keep the Bolts in games. Now San Diego just needs some healthy wideouts.

RANK

19

3-5BENGALS

1

The
Cincinnati Bengals are in serious trouble. At 3-5, they cannot afford a clunker at home
against the defending champs. Another loss, and the
Bengals will be in a serious hole in the playoff race. This group went 10-6 last season. Quarterback
Andy Dalton's play will be dissected, and with good reason. The second-year man from TCU has already thrown 11 interceptions after throwing only 13 as a rookie last season.

RANK

20

4-5CARDINALS

1

The
Arizona Cardinals got much more out of their offense
at Green Bay than they did versus San Francisco at home, but the Cards were also penalized more and turned the ball over more than the
Packers. You just can't do that against a superior team on the road. Arizona also only held the ball for 26 minutes. Any way you look at it, the
Cardinals are in free-fall. Going into a bye week with a five-game losing streak in tow is not exactly ideal.

RANK

21

3-5RAMS

Much like the
Cardinals, the
St. Louis Rams are in a steep decline. During the bye week, head coach
Jeff Fisher and staff must've taken a hard look at a defense that isn't playing nearly as well as it did early in the season. The secondary had its difficulties with both the
Packers and the
Patriots, which is understandable, given that those teams are quarterbacked by
Aaron Rodgers and
Tom Brady, respectively. But New England seemingly did whatever it wanted offensively, exploiting the
Rams on the ground, too.
The schedule provides no breaks, with a trip to San Francisco in Week 10. Remember:
Alex Smith went 18-for-19 with three touchdowns his last time out. Big game for the
Rams.

RANK

22

3-5SAINTS

8

At 3-5, the show ain't over. Heckuva response by the
New Orleans Saints' defense after letting
Peyton Manning Tecmo them a week ago. Defensive coordinator
Steve Spagnuolo's unit was especially impressive when backed up inside its own 20
on Monday night, shutting the door time and again on the
Philadelphia Eagles. Philly ventured into the red zone five times, and New Orleans gave them all of six points. Uh, that's a win.

RANK

23

3-5EAGLES

3

You thought
Cam Newton looked defeated in recent postgame press conferences? Oh man,
Andy Reid looked like a guy who had to sit through a
Lifetime movie marathon on Monday night. Going 0-for-5 in the red zone will do that to a man. So will gaining 447 yards and only having 13 points to show for it. So will losing five of six games.

The
Washington Redskins continue to hurt their own cause with penalties and drops. If 'Skins receivers could consistently catch the ball,
Robert Griffin III would be hovering around a 70 percent completion rate. Cornerback
Josh Wilson's fourth-quarter pass interference in the end zone pretty much guaranteed a Carolina touchdown, and then he wouldn't get his butt off the field to allow the
Redskins' defense to properly set -- problems that are a microcosm of the
Redskins' season.

RANK

26

3-5JETS

1

It was a bye week in an area of the country that had bigger fish to fry than football games. But it will be nice to have the
New York Jets back in action ... as long as its
not the team we saw
against the Dolphins.

RANK

27

3-5RAIDERS

1

You never know what
Oakland Raiders team is going to show up -- from game to game, quarter to quarter or play to play. At 3-5, the season isn't entirely slipping away. The
Raiders are only two games back in the AFC West, but have already suffered losses to both Denver and San Diego. The only way to get the 2012 season on the rails is for head coach
Dennis Allen to take a hard look at what his team is doing defensively, from a scheme and personnel standpoint. Allen was hired for this gig largely because of what he accomplished as a defensive coordinator in Denver. Yet, his defense in Oakland is allowing 28.6 points per game (
28th in the NFL).

RANK

28

3-6TITANS

4

Losing 51-20 is bad enough. But losing
the way the
Tennessee Titans did made the blowout unpalatable. Five turnovers, 22 minutes of possession and never really being in the game? Yeah, life as a
Titans fan was nothing short of awful on Sunday. At 3-6, the
Titans' chances of recovery seem remote, even in the swamp of mediocrity that is the AFC.
Chris Johnson ran for 141 yards,
taking one 80 yards to the house. Where was that in September?

RANK

29

3-5BILLS

2

The Buffalo Bills made a game out of it in Houston for the majority of the afternoon, but the offense still seems out of sync. Make no mistake, it's the defense that's been the culprit for most of the failure in 2012. Yet too often in Houston, the offense got nothing going, particularly when it was 21-9 with the bulk of the fourth quarter to play.
Ryan Fitzpatrick looked off, and the offense didn't vertical shots despite being down two scores. Going 2-for-11 on third down ain't exactly conducive to winning games, either. Perplexing, and I'm sure maddening for
Bills fans.

RANK

30

2-7BROWNS

2

The
Cleveland Browns fought back against a Baltimore team that always handles them in their own stadium. But the Brownies still
ended up with another loss. Problem No. 1 for Cleveland: Settling for
Phil Dawson field goals instead of getting touchdowns. Red-zone stalls hurt. Something else that hurt:
Brandon Weeden and the offense getting less than five yards per passing attempt. That is awful. The defense hung tight, allowing the
Ravens just 282 total yards after giving up two early touchdowns. (Cleveland gave up 136 yards on Baltimore's first two possessions, then 146 the rest of the game.) The offense must get more bang for the buck in the air and convert third downs to close the door on teams.

RANK

31

1-7JAGUARS

Same old story for
Jacksonville Jaguars fans, all 63,050 of them who had to sit through another three hours of bad offensive football. Jacksonville gained just 279 total yards
against the Lions, with a good majority of that total coming in garbage time. At some point, this ship must get righted, organizationally speaking. Jacksonville's home crowd has seen losses of
27-7,
27-10,
41-3 and
31-14. Get excited.

RANK

32

1-7CHIEFS

Tough to encapsulate what's going wrong in Kansas City, but it should be mentioned that there is too much talent on this roster for the
Chiefs to be 1-7. So it must be the coaching, right? Not completely. General manager Scott Pioli is responsible for signing
Matt Cassel to a $63 million deal, drafting
Jon Baldwin in the first round when a lot of teams didn't want him, alienating long-time employees, fixing leaks with mediocre players (
Peyton Hillis,
Steve Breaston, Stanford Routt) and ultimately spearheading a franchise that's gone 22-57 since he came on board.